“Dude. You didn’t even notice the rack on that sky angel. What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been staring into outer space since we left Hawaii. I was starting to worry you might cry soon?” Tyler teased.

“Fuck off, Tyler.” I wasn’t in the mood for his shit. I’d been crazy since I watched that as**ole walk down the gangplank behind Sydney, checking her ass out the whole time. He was probably a f**king accountant who liked commitment and came home at the same time from his boring job every night. But the thought of him sitting anywhere near my Sydney on the plane was enough for me to want to put my fist through the plane window. It was probably a good thing Tyler was sitting next to the window.

What the hell is wrong with me? I can still smell her perfume on my shirt. I have to remember not to wash it so I can send it to Chloe to figure out what perfume it is and buy it for me. I have no f**king clue what I am going to do with a bottle of woman’s perfume, but I just know I need to have it.

Seven days of the best sex I ever had and now what? I’m pu**y whipped? I can’t stop thinking about her. She should be out of my system by now. Seven days of any woman should be enough to f**k her right out of my thoughts. Any longer than that and it all becomes too complicated. But every time I close my eyes I see her long legs in that damn blue dress. I’m getting hard just remembering how she had no underwear on underneath. Sydney. The face of an angel, body of the devil.

The flight attendant came back with our drinks. She handed Tyler his drink, leaning a little too much over me, her tits skimming my arm as she passed him the glass. “Here you go.” Her voice was a purr and I noticed she kept her hand on the water bottle for a few seconds when I grabbed it. I should be all over that, seeing if I could earn my wings in the bathroom with the eager flight attendant. Syd and I had sex in the bathroom. Damn that woman felt good wrapped around me.

Tyler interrupted my thoughts of Sydney, to talk about Sydney. “Does Syd know that you own the hotel she works at?”

Enough with the goddamn Sydney crap. I should just take a nap.

“No. And she’s not going to know either. It’s a big city, I’m sure I’ll never run into her again.”

“Not unless you want to.”

“I don’t.”

“I didn’t say you did.”

Tyler’s smile was starting to piss me off. He thinks he’s smart, but he doesn’t know shit.

“How about you shut up with your girl talk now so that I can get some sleep on this flight?”

“Whatever you want, loverboy.” Tyler chuckled as he opened his Sports Illustrated.

***

So maybe taking a power nap wasn’t the greatest idea. I was glad I took the damn magazine from the annoying flight attendant, so Tyler wouldn’t see the hard on I was sporting after the dream I had about Sydney.

I pushed my chair back further, thankful for sleeper seats in first class that usually made it easier to fall asleep. I could see that it was dark outside through Tyler’s window and my mind wandered to the night that I took Syd to see the stars at the top of the mountain. I could hear her laugh as we laid on the blanket and talked for hours. That sound would be a good ring tone. Did I really just think a woman’s laugh would make a good ring tone? Definitely time to go back to sleep.

***

I haven’t dreamed of my mother in years. It was the day before she died and I was sitting on the side of her hospital bed, holding her hand. My father was nowhere to be found. As usual. Death wasn’t something I had experience with, and I didn’t know how to help my mother. So I just sat there and held her hand. It was all I could do, and it seemed to comfort her. Even though she wasn’t awake, I just knew she needed to know she wasn’t alone.

She only woke up one more time before she died. She seemed so alert and with it that last time, I’d started to think maybe the doctor had been wrong when he said she wouldn’t last more than a few days. I remember my father walking in during those last alert hours and standing in the doorway. My mom looked at him and then at me, before she pulled me close to whisper in my ear. “Sometimes in life, when you love something you need to set it free. If it comes back, it’s just meant to be.”

At the time, I thought she was talking about my father. I’d never given the conversation another thought. But maybe, just maybe, she was right.

Epilogue

Five years later.

“You do know that she’s going to be thirty before he lets a man anywhere near her, right?” Sienna half joked as we sat on the park bench together, watching as Jack lifted Gracie into his arms, pretending to swing her into the air just for fun. But both Sienna and I knew the truth. A sweet-faced little three year old boy had innocently grabbed Gracie’s hand to run to the slide with her and Jack had dealt with it on autopilot. I truly doubted if he had even realized what he had done.

“You think she has a shot at thirty?” I arched one eyebrow at my friend in ridicule at the notion that Jack might ever loosen his grip on his three year old daughter.

Sienna looked back over to the swings where Jack was tossing his princess into the air and making her giggle uncontrollably. “Don’t worry, her Aunt Sienna will sneak her out to parties.”

Dear Lord, I hoped she was kidding … but with Sienna, you never really knew.

On the way back home, Jack was off to the side chasing Gracie while Sienna and I walked arm in arm, concentrating on taking our steps in unison the way we frequently had in elementary school. Two young men approached us for autographs. They couldn’t have been older than seventeen and were very polite. But we were flanked by Jack and our security within seconds. The poor boys looked as if they might have a heart attack.

Clem had been my bodyguard for almost four years. He was six foot eight, wore only black, always had dark sunglasses, and sported a high and tight military cut. Even though he was as soft as a kitten when you got to know him, there weren’t many men who Clem didn’t intimidate. And if that wasn’t enough, my always insane husband stood on the other side of us, in case the poor young men weren’t rattled enough by Clem alone.

It had been that way for almost four years. After Sienna and I recorded our first album together, it had unexpectedly shot to the top of the charts. We had three number one hits off the debut album. Two years later, when we released a follow up album, sales soared and fans seemed to find us wherever we went. The day our second album was released, I delivered Gracie, three weeks early. Between our newfound fame and adding Gracie to our family, Jack’s protective streak ratcheted to a whole new level. A scary level. We argued a lot about what was safe that first year, but I had to admit making up had always been worth the fight.

Sienna and I managed to sign the autographs and help the young men relax a little by poking fun at Jack and Clem. I could get away with so much more when I was with Sienna, because there was no doubt that Clem was way into my friend. The selfish part of me wished that Sienna would hook up with Clem so he could keep her in town more. But I knew from experience that you can’t force a person to settle down. It happens when you least expect it.

Later that night, I went to check in on Gracie before heading to bed and found her smiling in her sleep. She looked so angelic, it was no wonder she had Jack wrapped around her little finger. It was only when she was awake and I saw the flash of green in her eyes that I knew she had a little devil in her, a little gift from her dad. Of course, Jack was completely blind to it, because he had that exact same flash of green in his own eyes. As I reached to turn out the lights, I smiled at the pictures of her grandparents on the mantel above her dresser. My mom and dad, Jack’s mom, Grace, her namesake, and Jack Sr.

I remember the day I set up the pictures in the nursery. I had been eight months pregnant. I wasn’t sure how Jack would react to my adding a picture of his dad, but it had been three years since his dad died and so much had changed. We’d both let go of a lot of anger and found happiness in each other. Jack had found me setting them down, and I had caught his jaw clench, but then he gently smiled. There wasn’t much that he wouldn’t give his wife, but his pregnant wife he denied nothing. His hands automatically reached down to rub my belly. Something he did often. I’d heard women complain that their husband’s libido went out the window when they were pregnant, but mine seemed to have the exact opposite effect. He seemed to like my new curvy body and had found any excuse to rub me. Not that he’d ever needed one.

Jack was coming out of the master bath as I walked into the bedroom. Wrapped only in a towel, I could see water droplets glistening on his tight chest. I was suddenly thirsty and the water I wanted to devour didn’t come from a bottle.

“She asleep?” His voice was low and damn sexy.

Jack’s voice startled me out of my momentary adoration, but I hadn’t really heard the words that he had spoken. “What?” I looked up, confused.

One arched eyebrow and a devilish grin on his face told me I’d been caught. “Get on the bed.”

“On the bed?” At first I thought I had missed part of the conversation while I was busy drooling over my husband.

“You can’t look at me like that and not expect what I’m going to give you.” Jack took four steps and was in front of me, in my personal space, where it had all began.

My stomach did a flip flop at the thought of what I was going to get. More than five years with the man and he still gave me butterflies. I could tell by the gray that his green eyes had smoldered into that it was going to be hard and fast. He had that look. Hard and fast was my favorite, but only because I knew he always felt the need to follow it with slow and sweet later.

As my insatiable husband carried me to the bed, our bed, I found myself thinking about how lucky I was. My husband loved me. Wanted me. Craved me. Cherished me. And the feeling was mutual. It had been that way since the first moment our eyes locked. Sure, we’d gone through some highs and lows. But eventually we’d found our happy ever after. And really, what more could a girl want?